Tagged by a Dragon
by ivolynn
Summary: Sakura Kinomoto has a small problem. When visiting her friend at a prodigious school, she accidentally pisses off the most powerful guys there the D3, who are known to beat up people over small trifles.
1. Time to feed the Fish!

Well… All I can say is I'm sort of throwing out ideas (meaning I'm just trying different ideas w/o really knowing what will happen). This is a sort of Hana Yori Dango with a Cardcaptor Sakura twist and me twist. Grin

Summary- Sakura Kinomoto has a small problem. When visiting her friend at a prodigious school, she accidentally pisses off the most powerful guys there- the D3, who are known to beat up people over small trifles.

Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP and the original plot (Hana Yori Dango) belongs to Yoko Kamio.

**Tagged by a Dragon**

Written by Ivolynn

_Chapter 1- "Time to Feed the Fish!"_

"Do you want any snacks?" an attendant asked, pushing the privacy screen aside. A cart filled with Godiva chocolate and special seasoned peanuts only available to Spain and the 'cream of the crop'. And Sakura distinctly remembered only having 1500 yen in her pocket.

'Dang it.' Sakura Kinomoto shook her head politely, dismissing the attendant. Humming softly, she stared out into the rolling green hills of the countryside, the occasional summer home whirring by.

A small electronic beeping and a mechanical voice caused her to look down at the state of the art TV/radio/DVD player/et cetera 's screen. _"We will arrive at Amikusaii Academy in ten minutes."_

'Tomoyo, here I come.' A slight queasy feeling sunk into her stomach. She was nervous. She was going to finally see her friend after three years!

Tomoyo Daidouji had been her friend since the second grade. Wherever Sakura was, Tomoyo wasn't found far away. Until the second year of junior high. Tomoyo's mother, a CEO of a successful toy company, had decided to send her daughter to a prestigious school for rich kids in the country.

And Sakura hadn't heard a word of her best friend until the beginning of the second semester. It finally had come in a letter. A request.

"Sakura," Tomoyo had written. "Please come to my school. Before you say no, I have already asked my mother to provide you with a visitor pass and a train ticket. They're enclosed in this letter. Don't worry about your father. Mother has already asked him. See ya in a couple weeks! Ja! "

The letter had looked slightly suspicious. She didn't remember Tomoyo's hand writing to be so… loopy. Nor did she remember Tomoyo ever call her mother 'Mother'. It was usually 'Mama' or 'Mom'. But it had been three years, right? Things can change in three years.

Still slightly suspicious, she had brought it up to her father and then to friend's mother's attention. Both had confirmed it to be true.

"But why, Mrs. Daidouji? No offence, but I don't think I would want to go to a place full of snobs, except Tomoyo, that is."

The CEO had said, "None taken. I'm sure Tomoyo would like the company." And then muttered, "God knows how that girl needs it."

Sakura did not know what she meant. What was wrong with Tomoyo?

A mechanical tone sounded.

Pushing down an anxious feeling, Sakura gathered up her luggage. She would find out soon enough.

She stepped out of the train into the cool January air, shrugging into a warm jacket while wrapping a wooly scarf around her neck.

Now… Where was Tomoyo? She looked around the train station for her friend.

Behind her were parents, cousins, sisters, brothers, friends… you name it. They cheerfully came up to the one that they had come for, handing them gifts of many Rolex brand watches, multiples of Vutton handbags… The gifts that the person did not like, even in the slightest, they gave back saying it was ugly and to return it. The relative would just shake their head and then toss the gift into a nearby trashcan, which had an automatic material shredder. At the sound of the shredder, they laughed in that high-class sort of amusement. She frowned.

'What ingrates. That purse could've fed at least a hundred kids. Ingrates.'

She passed a pair of uniformed girls who stared at her as if she had just stepped out of a garbage can.

She heard them whisper quite loudly, "Such cheap clothing! What are people like her doing here?"

'What rude people! This is why I dislike people like them,' she thought, infuriated. She looked at her swollen, chaffed hands; the cold was getting to them. "Where is Tomoyo?"

She checked the station, going around places a couple times, but ended up wandering outside. The scene surprised her.

Along the clean paved main street, which uniform clad students bustled through and fro, cottage-like shops were set up. It reminded her of the Disney movie 'Beauty and the Beast' with its French architecture. Farther up the road was a cluster of smaller cottages, which, she supposed were the dormitories. Even farther, was an imposing building that one could mistake for an old castle, a fort even.

A Starbuck's sign swung on its hinge, catching her attention. She was right then sorely tempted to go in there and warm herself with a nice warm mocha cappuccino, when there was an uproar in the middle of the street.

Students began to gather around a small intersection. People who had just noticed it became excited and got on over there. Some were climbing up on lampposts to see what was happening.

Curious, Sakura stopped a boy and asked what was going on.

"D3's got a new victim!" he shouted, waving his arms animatedly before joining his fellow students, but that just left one seriously confused Sakura.

She squeezed through the crowd, halting when she came to the front, a hand clasped to her mouth.

Three boys dressed in casual attire were the center of the attention. One stood silently, watching the event. The other two were throwing tomatoes, garbage… whatever they could get their hands on at a boy tied to a post. All he wore was a pair of stained tighty whities.

Just then, a couple students carried a cart to the center. It was embellished with radishes, onions, lettuce leaves and other vegetables.

A couple other boys picked up the sobbing naked boy and placed him into the cart.

The three boys without uniforms sauntered over to the cart, each picking up a bottle of… what looked like salad dressing.

"Quiet down!" The boy, who had short gelled up black hair, cried. When the crowd had done so, he held up his bottle that contained a white substance. "Which dressing do you think will fit him? 'Ranch'?"

His other two boys held up their bottles, one containing a brown chunky substance and the other a red liquid. "'Red wine vinaigrette'? Or this mystery 'dressing'?"

"'Ranch'!" Most of the boys yelled. "Or the brown crap!"

"'Vinaigrette'!" Quite a few girls shouted.

"How about all three?" The boy suggested.

The people laughed, as if laughing at a clown. "All three!" The crowd repeated this in a mantra.

The boy with the loose black hair and glasses grinned. "You got it."

The one who had not spoken before (this one had short brown hair) finally announced. "We'll need some volunteers of course."

Boys whooped, trying to get the boys' attention; the girls waved their hands excitedly.

Sakura just stared at the people around her like they were insane, and she had no doubt that they were. 'I think I'll go back now.' She tried to push back through the crowd, but found that she was unable. The crowd was too thick.

The boy with the glasses looked around and spotted a girl with short brown hair and no uniform trying to make her way through the crowd.

'Someone trying to escape?' he wondered, walking in that direction, but it seemed his brown haired friend got there first.

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder. She mistook it for some crazy person flinging their arms around (as many of the people around her were doing), but the hand slid down to her arm and squeezed gently. The people hushed.

She whirled around, meeting two sparkling amber-brown eyes. It was that quiet brown haired guy. She blushed slightly, thinking thoughts a normal girl would think when approached by a hot guy.

"Would you do the honor?" he asked imploringly.

Her intelligent answer was: "Huh?"

The boy gave a breathtaking smile, but Sakura was somewhat freaked out. He held out his bottle that had the red liquid.

"Take it," the crowd pressed. "Go on, take it."

She soon realized that everyone was staring at her.

This equation explains what happened next:

Weird, but cute boy + pressure + center of attention + confusion an act of stupidity… idiocy.

Before she could think, she took the bottle of red liquid (which she knew by now that it wasn't vinaigrette by the thickness of it), stepped up to the naked boy, and dumped the entire bottle on his chest.

The two others chosen dumped theirs as well. The brown substance was crap… literally crap in a bottle. Sakura had gotten a sharp blast of it as soon as the girl opened the bottle.

The boy's cries became frantic wails.

Suddenly, her mind came back to her, and she realized what she was doing. Angrily, she cast away the bottle and stomped back into the crowd.

The three boys stared at her, curious about her actions, but shrugged it off. They had a more important matter at hand.

"Time to feed the fish!"

The crowd roared and a few boys pushed the cart towards a fountain full of huge hungry fish. And ice.

'What the hell?' Sakura thought, looking back. 'Are these people mad? Throwing somebody into water in the middle of freaking winter? This is nuts!'

She was about to speak her mind, when a hand gently caught hers.

"Don't," said a soft voice.

Sakura turned around. She recognized that face! Two wide innocent blue eyes (they looked weary now), long black hair that she envied… "Tomoyo!"

The girl put a finger to her lips. "Shush. Follow me." She led Sakura through an empty alley.

Desperately confused, Sakura tried again. "Tomoyo? What's going—"

Tomoyo turned around. "No questions until we get to my dorm."

"O…okay."

Sakura dropped her luggage onto Tomoyo's king sized bed. The cottage itself was the size of a medium sized house, around Sakura's house's size.

Sakura saw an odd little yellow teddy bear with wings and a lion's tail perched up on a shelf. She stood up on the tips of her toes and took it down, examining it.

"Tomoyo? What's with this weird bear? What kinda teddy bear has wings?" Surprisingly, she felt the artificial torso constrict, like a sharp intake of breath.

Tomoyo just replied. "Angel bears do." She took the bear from the girl and placed it on a pillow with surprising care. She then snatched Sakura's bag away, leading the owner into a bland room. "This is your room. Sorry it's not decorated, but I had no idea you were coming."

Sakura was seriously confused right now. "But you sent me a letter saying that you wanted me to come!"

The blue-eyed girl looked surprised. "I did?"

"Yeah, you did. You said that you wanted me to visit and that your mom would pay for my train ticket."

She pulled out the letter from her bag and handed it to her friend.

Tomoyo shook her head, but it looked like she had it all figured out. "That's Mom's handwriting. What is she doing? Sending you over here!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"You shouldn't be here, Sakura. You can't be here." Tomoyo sighed at the girl's confused and sad look. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Sakura nodded. "I'm starving! I was thinking about going into that Starbuck's, but then there was that… what was that anyway? Why did they do that?"

"Why don't we discuss this after we eat?" Tomoyo seemed to be trying to dodge the subject.

"S-sure." She would ask her later.

After eating a light meal of instant ramen, Sakura asked, "What is going on, Tomoyo? Why did your mom send me over here? Who are those people that were throwing stuff?"

Tomoyo smiled slightly, a little of the old Tomoyo surfacing. "So many questions… What you saw today was a D3 war. ("Didn't seem like a war. It was more like a gang up," inserted Sakura) I know, they just call it that. Let me explain from the beginning. Those three guys you saw are known as the D3, Dragon Three, I think. They're the richest, most ruthless guys you'll ever meet, which I hope to God you never do. They control just about everybody here. All the students, the staff… Heck, even the principal. Everybody's scared of them, because they're so strong and because their parents own the top companies in all of Japan… Whenever people oppose them, they'll put this 'red tag' in their locker or on the door of their dorm. Then they beat them up in these 'D3 wars' like that one guy that got beat up earlier, but that wasn't even close to bad. ("Sounds dorky, D3 battles I mean," Sakura commented) It does, but don't ever, EVER say that outside these walls. These guys got the entire school backing them up. All the girls adore them. All the guys want to be just like them, and the teachers won't listen… You don't have a chance against them if you stand up to them."

Sakura sighed. "It's hopeless isn't it? To stop them from just beating on helpless people?"

"Yeah…"

The doorbell rang and a girl's voice sounded over the intercom. "Daidouji! Get this door open! I know you still have my CD!"

At Sakura's questioning look, Tomoyo answered, "Old roommate." She got up and answered the door.

The two girls that had rudely commented on her attire earlier were now standing on the porch.

'No wonder Tomoyo doesn't have them as roommates anymore.'

One of the girls rudely brushed past Tomoyo and into her old room. Sakura's room.

"Whose stuff is this?" Sakura heard the flapping of clothing. "What cheap crap! Who wears this stuff anymore?"

Sakura stood up abruptly and stomped into her room, surprising the girl with a: "What are you doing to my stuff?"

The girl instantly dropped her things, shooting Sakura a look of disgust. "Oh, it's you. That girl from the train station."

She stood up and looked around the room for her CD. Finally finding it underneath the bed, she stomped towards Tomoyo, said something in a hushed tone and then slapped her. Tomoyo didn't do anything.

As Tomoyo shut the door, Sakura asked, "Why'd she do that? No wonder she's not your roommate anymore."

Tomoyo plopped onto the sofa, looking somewhat distressed. "Because her CD… But yeah. That's part of the reason."

"A part?" Sakura asked. She was curious. "What's the other part?"

Tomoyo let out a sigh. "I'll tell you later. But tomorrow, you have to go back to Tomoeda."

"Why! I've only just arrived! We have to catch up! I mean, we haven't talked or anything the past three years!"

Tomoyo looked sad. "I know… And I really want you to stay, but you really have to go back. As soon as possible. It's not safe for you here."

Sakura let a puppy dog look on her face. "Is it because those D3 guys? I'll stay away from them, if that's what you're worried about."

Tomoyo was silent.

Sakura let out an airy yawn and looked at the time. "8:58," she murmured. "I think that five hour trip really took it out of me…" She yawned again. "I'm going to sleep early, I guess…"

She got up and began walking to her room.

"Sakura."

She turned her head.

Tomoyo's eyes glittered beseechingly. "Please promise you'll go back home tomorrow."

Sakura had a hurt expression. "Do you want me to go back that bad?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "Of course not, but it's for your own good."

"Can't you just tell me what's wrong?"

"Sorry, Sakura."

The girl let out a long-suffering sigh. "How about this. We'll make a deal, Tomoyo. If you tell me what's wrong, I'll go back. Unless it's something bad… Like drugs and stuff." Tomoyo opened her mouth to protest, but Sakura continued, extending her little finger out to her. "Pinky promise?"

Tomoyo shrugged her shoulders in defeat and sealed the deal.

"Pinky promise."

Thank you for taking your time to read.

-Hypervenalting- Must resist inner review hoarder! Must resist! Agh… Anyway, pretty, pretty please review with cherries on top! Okay… And a fudge sundae! Without the peanuts of course. Wait… I don't even like cherries… lol

REVIEW


	2. An Unlucky Encounter

New chapter! Hm… A few words in the last chapter somehow got deleted if you're confused about some sentences being cut off. I'll go back and edit that chapter later. Also, I changed the genre to romance/drama since when I first put up the chapter it was like 2 in the morning and I wasn't thinking straight. Well, got nothing else to say but thank you to all you kind readers and reviewers!

Amanda- Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Merry Christmas to you too!

Feifiefofum- Yeah, I agree with you about the rich brat thing. Hopefully you will find that this fic is different from the rest and continue reading. I'm trying to make a used idea new and unique in its own way. I wouldn't want my kids (in the future, I'm not even in college yet) to be spoiled brats or be walked all over either. It does make you want to be poor and quit school, but just hang on! Thanks for reading!

Xoxkookiexox- Thanks! Well (blush) you seem to have caught a mistake on my part. (Looks sheepish) Okay… How about we say that the kid accidentally tripped one of the D3 guys and be happy with it? No? Ok, ok I'll go correct that right now. ;; lol

Aan- Thank you for reading. I hope you like this one too.

Anonymous- I'm hurrying! Thank you for reading!

Dbzgtfan2004- Thank you for reading. Here's the next one!

Meow-mix23- I updated! Hope you like!

Sentai- Yah, thank you! Um… Well I already emailed you about this, but I'll say it again. I don't have a mailing list, but I think has an author alert or story alert thing. But if you would like me to email you whenever I update my fic, then I'll be more than happy to do it.

The Cherry Blossom Artist- Yup! That's what Hana Yori Dango translates into! But you knew that already. Cool another fan of that series! Let me assure you that this one will be different.

TeDDiez- Thanks for reviewing! Well… I've read a little of the first episode translations for Meteor Garden, but I'm more into its manga counterpart. It's D3 in this story because it's easier with only three characters. I dunno but Akira at times seemed to be just added in (in the manga anyway). "Boys over Flowers" is the English translation of Hana Yori Dango.

Nb- Thanks! I hope you like this one!

S+S43v3r- Here it is!

Yang-v- Glad you think so! Thanks!

CherryBlossom34- Thank you very much. I don't plan on dropping this story anytime soon. (I can't totally promise that though, because school is starting to get really rough.)

And a big thanks to the readers who didn't review! You've all made my day!

On wit da story!

Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP and the original plot belongs to Yoko Kamio.

Tagged by a Dragon

By Ivolynn

Chapter 2- An Unlucky Encounter

It was eight when Sakura woke up. Surprisingly, Tomoyo was still asleep. The girl had always preached the importance of an early start, even when they were second graders.

"The early bird always catches the worm," she said the first time when Sakura had been late to school. She had always said the same thing every morning before she went to Amakusaii, because… Sakura was late every day to school. Now, when she was late to school back at home, her friend Naoko would say something like "the owl never gets the worm, but the mouse." That would always confuse Sakura because it made absolutely no sense at all.

Sakura chuckled at that. But now it was sort of a role reversal. When she got into the kitchen to look for food, she saw on the calendar that it was a Sunday and was proved wrong.

'Dang, I guess I got up for nothing,' she thought with a pout. Geez, she had been thinking about going into Tomoyo's room and rubbing it in her face too. And now it was ruined. Ahh… Anyway, today was the day she would pry out the reason why Tomoyo's mother sent her there. She still thought it had something to do with those D3 guys, even though she had seen nothing that would really prove it…

"Do you mind not stalling any longer and open the door already!" a voice inquired from next to her feet.

She looked down and immediately jumped away. The strange teddy bear from Tomoyo's room was leaning against the refrigerator, tapping one little foot against the ground.

"Oh… my… god… I didn't know that thing was a furby!" Thinking it was that, she moved to open the door, but a small chomp on her big toe impeded her.

The little bear-thing fluttered its wings and was now hovering right next to her face. She could see its ears twitching in annoyance, its torso rise and fall with each breath.

"I am NOT a FURBY!" the thing shouted in her face. It was furious.

"Okay, okay…" Sakura moved her hands in a mollifying gesture. "You're not a furby. Then what are you? An angel bear?"

The thing growled. "I am not an angel bear either! That's a stupid name for a body guard."

Sakura gazed at it in surprise. "A bodyguard? You?"

The thing glared as menacingly as it could with its small beady eyes. "Yes me. This is my temporary size."

"Temporary size?"

She heard the tapping of slippers behind her and Tomoyo's voice. "Kero can change into a tiger cat thing." The girl yawned and opened the refrigerator, grabbing a carton of orange juice and leaving the door open for the "bodyguard" to get something out of it.

"Want some juice, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked as she poured herself a glass.

The girl shook her head. She wasn't thirsty.

"So this thing," -Said 'thing' grumbled loudly- "is your bodyguard?" Tomoyo nodded. "Why do you need one? Is this because your problem?"

Tomoyo walked into the living area and sat down on the sofa, sipping her juice quietly.

Sakura plopped down next to her. "Come on, Tomoyo! What is wrong? Remember our promise yesterday? If you break it, I break your pinky!"

Tomoyo stared at the yellow liquid swishing in her glass.

Kero fluttered into the room, wearing a small pink apron. "Mistress Tomoyo! What would you like to eat for breakfast?" He noticed Sakura staring at him. "What?"

Sakura started to giggle, shattering the tension and causing the small bodyguard to angrily inquire what she was laughing about.

"I just thought how cute you are!" This caused Tomoyo to cough/laugh violently.

"I am not cute! I can maul things up! Like trucks! Yeah, trucks!" Sakura joined Tomoyo in laughter. "Fine, fine. Mistress Tomoyo, you will have an American country style breakfast."

"Bacon—and—biscuits," his mistress said between laughs.

"Sausage—and—toast," replied Sakura.

Kero glared at her. "Now why would I make breakfast for you?"

The laughs dissolved. "Because she's our guest, Kero."

The bodyguard grumbled and flew back into the kitchen. They soon heard the clanking of pans and the sizzle of bacon and sausage.

Sakura chuckled. "I forgot to ask, but how is a small thing like him able to cook?"

"Well, Mom had the company make a special bodyguard/servant AI for me. So he was taught how to cook and stuff like sewing. Just don't ask how he's able to lift those heavy pans because I have no idea."

"Mistress Tomoyo! We're out of milk and eggs!" came Kero's call from the kitchen. "Do you want me to run out and get some?"

"No thanks, Kero! I'll go get them," Tomoyo hollered back.

"Are you sure Mistress?" Kero flew back into the living area. "That's not exactly a good idea. I was against the idea of you going outside yesterday, but I say that you shouldn't go today."

Sakura's curiosity perked up.

"Nonsense! No one's out right now. Only the people going to church are, and that's only a few, 'cause you know. The people around here are lazy."

Kero gave a disapproving frown and Tomoyo shot back with a dominating stare.

Kero caved in first. "Fine. Just make sure this time you wear a hoodie to hide your hair. It's really stark on you. You're lucky no one saw you yesterday. Really lucky."

"I'm planning to. Don't worry, Kero. I won't get caught. The chances of that today are like one in a million." Tomoyo seemed confident, but there was an underlying of uncertainty to her tone.

"Famous last words," the bodyguard shot back. Tomoyo shook her head stubbornly.

"Tomoyo," Sakura decided to join their conversation. "When you get back, do you mind telling me what's going on. Like you promised?"

The dark haired girl nodded before heading off to her room. She came back with a casual outfit on. Her hair was tucked back into a navy blue hoodie.

"So, Kero, am I unnoticeable now?" The girl turned around showing that all her hair was tucked in and secured.

The bodyguard nodded, but still had a look of worry on his face. "Yea, yea. Now shoo and come back ASAP."

Tomoyo gave a small smile and left the house.

Sakura blinked. 'All that just to get out of the house? Tomoyo, you're really starting to worry me.' She looked over to the bodyguard who was sitting on a windowsill watching as Tomoyo made her way out of view.

"That kid better be careful. She's lucky the punks around here are too lazy to get up," she heard him mutter as he flew off to go tend to the cooking.

Elsewhere…

"Now tell me whose smart idea was to get up at freaking **eight** in the morning on a Sunday?" Syaoran Li demanded as he and his two friends headed towards the small grocery store on campus.

His spiky haired friend, Takashi Yamazaki, shook his head. "Don't ask me, Li. Ask the baka who wanted to make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast." He thumbed the remaining member of their group, Eriol Hiiragizawa.

The blue haired boy sighed. "Am I such a bad guy that you make me out to be?"

His two friends stopped abruptly and turned towards him. "YES."

"Now why is that?" He asked, an innocent look on his face.

"It's a **Sunday**," Syaoran grumbled, emphasizing 'Sunday'.

"Your point?"

"No one gets up this early on a freaking Sunday!"

"Uh huh." Eriol had a faraway kind of expression on his face.

"Are you listening to me?" Syaoran cried out, looking about three seconds from throttling his best friend. In fact, he was beginning to inch on over to him.

"Uh huh."

"Now, Li, no need to get angry over Eriol's eccentricities. The sooner we get the pancake mix and chocolate chips, the sooner we go back home." Takashi said, laughing nervously. He was often a mediator to his friends. "Perhaps Eriol will give you a pancake or two. You know, I believe I once read that pancakes originate in the Arthurian times when an old maid dropped batter off a ledge and the sun's rays cooked it into a fluffy but flat piece of bread. It's said that King Arthur himself ate and named it."

"And _I believe_ you read it wrong," Syaoran mimicked Takashi's voice. It was obvious that his idiot friend was lying, but at other times the boy spun lies that even he was fooled. After all, lying was Takashi's forte. He wasn't called the Fantastic Fibber for nothing (a corny nickname that stuck to him ever since they were small children. Takashi greatly disliked it). It was that trait that made him the accomplished womanizer of today.

"Eh, can we go in now?" came Eriol's voice. They had talked all that time and had not realized that they were standing right in front of the store.

Syaoran grumbled something and stomped off in the direction of a frozen fountain not far from them. (It was the very same one that yesterday they had thrown a kid, who had sprayed water on him when watering a plant in Botany class, into.)

Translation: Go on without me.

The two friends shrugged and went into the store that only minutes before they had arrived a girl with a hoodie had entered.

Meanwhile… Sakura had gotten an idea. Sometime ago, she had snuck up on the bodyguard while he was putting the sausages and bacon on a plate. She was currently holding a struggling Kero by the tail.

"Ack! You crazy person!"

"Listen you… furby thing," Sakura demanded. "Tell me why Tomoyo was acting weird. And why she needs a bodyguard."

Beating his wings fiercely, the tiny bodyguard, with all his might, swung up and bit the offender's finger.

"Yeowch!" she yelped, alternating him to her other hand. "C'mon! Please tell me what is wrong with her!" He yelled "No!" and she began to shake him by the tail, as one would do to a bell.

"Will you stop shaking me already!" he shrieked, his voice wavering as he was spun around. "I'm warning you! I can transform and maul you into bits!"

She ceased. "You can't do that. I don't think your Mistress would be very pleased if you tore her best friend up."

The small guardian sighed. "Fine, you bipolar freak."

Sakura shrugged the insult off. "You'll tell me?"

"Didn't I just say I would?"

"No, you said 'fine'."

"Just put me down and I'll tell you…" She set him down next to the sink. "Although this is disobeying my Mistress's wishes, I guess it is important that you as her friend know what's happening." He cleared his throat in a humanly fashion.

"The Mistress and I haven't known each other for long, so I don't know all the details. I only arrived a couple weeks ago," he began. "But I do know the simple fact that the Mistress is being bullied."

"By who?" Sakura asked, suddenly very angry. Who would dare bully her friend. "It isn't… the D3 is it?"

When Kero didn't say anything, she sunk to the ground. "It is, isn't it?"

She stood up suddenly and began to walk out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?"

"…The bathroom."

"Ha! You expect me to believe that?" She turned around at this.

"Fine, tell me where the store is."

One of his beady little eyes twitched. "Hmm… Next to the Starbuck's and that snobby clothes store place, but… Hey!"

She had already walked out of the house.

---

Once she had gotten the eggs and milk, Tomoyo was walking towards the register when she heard the door swing open. She stopped in her tracks. It was the D2.

"Where is the pancake mix?" she heard one of them inquire the clerk.

"Aisle 5, next to the dairy section," said the student clerk.

"Thanks." She heard steps coming in her direction.

'Oh crap.' She was in the dairy section. She could see their feet through the shelf now. 'What do I do? What do I do?' Panicking, she did the only thing she could do. Act natural.

When the D2 walked into the aisle they found a girl skimming through brands of cake mixes.

'Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic,' she thought repeatedly, staring hard at the nutritional labels.

They passed by… and stopped only a few feet from her.

'Okay, Tomoyo, you can do this. You can do this. Just act natural. Just be smooth. A smoothie. Be a smoothie…' Stiffly, she began to walk away until she felt herself sway to the side. And knock over a shelf of cake mix.

'Crap! Crappish crappidity crap!' She was sitting on the ground very still like a deer waiting to be shot, covered with white and brown cake mix.

She heard coughing behind her and felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you all right, Miss?" asked a familiar voice. It was the D2.

'Should I answer them?' she wondered. She almost yelped when she felt a hand dust her back off.

One of them chuckled. "You've got cake mix all over you."

One hand dusted her hood right off. Her hair fell out of it.

There was a gasp. "Oi… I know who you are. You're that one chick who told Li off…"

She closed her eyes. 'Oh god.'

The door opened again and three girls walked in. She recognized one of them as her old roommate, Michiru Kodaishi.

As soon as they saw the mess and the D2, they sidled up to them.

Her ex-roommate coughed delicately. "Is that you, Daidouji? I must say you should wear that more often. It suits you." She turned to the spiky haired guy, touching his shoulder. "Weren't you going to like trash her dorm or something?"

He shrugged her hand off. "Ask Li about that. I don't want anything to do with it."

"What about you, Eriol-kun?" her friend asked the blue haired boy with glasses.

He was examining a box of pancake mix. "It's not my problem."

The door opened again. "Oi! What's taking you so long?"

"Syaoran-kun!" the girls giggled. "It's so nice to see you!"

"Whatever." He blew them off. He saw the mess and whistled. "Some mess you made here guys."

"Actually," the spiky haired guy started, pointing at Tomoyo. "It's that chick who you tagged the other day."

Syaoran glowered down at her. "Oh yeah." He had almost forgotten about her. "I thought the school had already run you off to the hills or something." He forced her up by the front of her shirt. "Now that you've shown up, I'll get you back for what you said to me, you bitch."

Once again, the door opened. A girl in only pajamas and house shoes walked in. She gaped when she saw what was happening, her eyes bugging when she realized that the flour covered girl was in fact Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura cried, running towards her. She grabbed the brown haired boy's arm. "What're you doing to her? You're that D3 right? I bet you're planning to beat on her too like you did to that one kid yesterday."

"It's that one girl," Michiru muttered to her friends.

"Who are you?" Syaoran demanded, shrugging her hand off his arm. She looked somewhat familiar.

"No one near as important as someone like you," she replied sarcastically, tugging her friend away from him.

"Really, girl. Tell me who you are."

"Why? So you can just torment me along with my friend. I think not." She pulled Tomoyo towards the door.

"What makes you think I'll do that?"

'Is this guy trying to fool me or is he really this dumb?' She stopped.

"Lot's of things."

"Such as?"

'What is this guy trying to do?' "Such as that 'D3 war' thing yesterday. And the fact you looked ready to pummel my friend just a second ago. What did they ever do to you?"

"They deserve it," he said simply, as if it was the answer for everything. "Weak idiots like them get in the way of us stronger people. They need to be beat up so they learn their lesson to stay away."

"What?" Sakura exploded, surprising Tomoyo so much that she inched away from her friend. "Are you a freaking psycho! Is that boy from yesterday still alive? The one who you threw into that fountain? It's in the middle of the freaking winter! He might get hypothermia and die! You asshole! I hope his parents sue you!"

The boy looked vexed at this, but he still stood his ground. "I remember you now. You're that girl who I chose yesterday. You're a hypocrite."

"Damn, I didn't even know what I was doing yesterday! But now I know what this is all about!" She stepped up to him. "You're all are bunch of sick sadistic bastards who think you're all that." She poked him with each word, "You think you can just step on people who are weaker than you! Well, here's a little something… You're not all that!"

"And you're a hypocritical bitch who doesn't know how to fucking shut up!" He roared.

She was afraid he was going to hit her and closed her eyes, because he looked damned near to do so, but instead she felt something wet land on her head. When she heard laughing she opened her eyes again.

"Did you just… spit on me?"

The END.

J/k! Of course I wouldn't stop right there. Lol! You guys are lucky I was able to get this one up. I have two projects to do, several tests to study for, and a whole bunch of notes to take over the freaking 'Odyssey' and the 'Aeneid.' Too much…. (swirly eyes) Sorry that I had to lay that on you guys… but these days right before Christmas are so stressful. Teachers just love to cram everything right at the end, don't they?

Shameless Plug: I'm drawing some pics for this fic. From what I'm told, I ain't too shabby at it either. (Gloating grin) They'll be uploaded soon, so check my author page in awhile. Ooh and another… read 'Memoirs of a Geisha.' It's really good if you're into Japanese history and all that.


	3. The Cotton Ball of Doom

Hey! A new chapter!

Thanks go out to: TeDDiez, nb, someone, meow-mix23, Sentai, The Cherry Blossom Artist, BlueMeteorGirl, and DeadlyBlossoms! You guys are the best! And thanks also to those who didn't review, but at least read. It sure makes me happy to see that hit counter going up. Lol

Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP and the original plot belongs to Yoko Kamio!

**Tagged by a Dragon**

_Chapter 3_

By Ivolynn

Warnings: Strong language

---

The Nurse's apartment...

"Hold still, Li-san," said the school nurse. She tried shove the cotton ball up the boy's bleeding nostril, but each time she tried he would move his head to the side. The boy was impossible. More blood streamed out of his nose and onto the pristine carpet of her living room.

'Damn,' she thought, thinking of how much money it would be to get it washed out of her nice carpet. The school may be rich and the teachers may have a bigger wage than other teachers, but the point was teachers were still underpaid. And in this case, on a Sunday morning, overworked.

"No fucking way! Get away, you ugly banshee!" Syaoran shouted, jumping off the couch. More blood spilled onto the carpet, and the nurse mentally cried. He glared pointedly at his two friends who had carried him to the nurse's quarters to be fixed up after he fainted.

His two friends shrugged. Takashi disapproved of Syaoran calling a woman a banshee no matter what age they were. "Oi Li, don't call her that."

The boy glared in response and dodged another futile attempt of the nurse. "No way is that thing-," he pointed at the cotton ball, "-going up my nose."

"Please sit down," the nurse cried out, exasperated. "If you keep moving around you'll lose too much blood."

Syaoran laughed haughtily; more blood dripped onto the carpet. "Hell no. When you lose that thing and hand me a tissue, I'll be more willing to sit."

The nurse looked to his friends imploringly. They obliged.

A second later, Syaoran found himself held down, Takashi holding his feet and Eriol holding his arms down. "What the fuck!" He flailed when the nurse came closer, two cotton balls in hand. "No," he said weakly. "Stay away..."

She jammed the cotton balls up his nose.

"#$#1!"

---

"What are you doing, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked when they got into her cottage safely. "I told you not to do something like this!"

Sakura was silent, recalling the events earlier.

"_Did you just… spit on me?" she had asked. There was laughing._

_She looked up. A wide smirk confirmed her question._

"_I dunno," the boy answered snidely. "Why don't you reach up there and feel it?"_

_Fury began to boil within her. _

_Sakura pulled her hand back in a fist and punched him in the face with all her might. The arrogant boy fell back, his friends catching him, the other girls crying hysterically. Blood trickled from his nose, the skin underneath his right eye swollen._

_"You bitch!" one of the girls had shouted. "I can't believe you did that!"_

_But Sakura could care less. She felt… empowered and victorious. Taking Tomoyo by the crook of the arm, she led the bewildered girl outside and back to the dorm._

"Come on, Tomoyo," she said calmly, walking towards the kitchen. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Sakura…"

"Mistress?" came Kero's voice. The bodyguard appeared at the kitchen door, his mouth dropping when he saw his mistress covered in flour. "What happened!"

"Tell you in a minute," Sakura answered for the girl. "Please get a towel." She collapsed onto the couch wearily.

Sensing the brown haired girl was being serious, the bodyguard flew off to the linen closet to get a towel.

Tomoyo, meanwhile, took off her flour caked hoodie and threw it into her room. Kero handed her a towel, and she dusted herself off. When she came back into the living room, she plopped down next to her friend. Kero seated himself on the armrest.

"Okay… What's going on? You guys look like somebody died."

"Sakura… punched Syaoran Li," Tomoyo whispered, placing her chin on her hands.

"Sakura punched… Sakura punched… Who now? I coulda sworn you said that gaki's name." Kero had a look of disbelief on his small face.

"I punched that jackass named Li," Sakura confirmed for him. She wasn't feeling all that great at the second. The way she felt at the moment was the way a child would feel when they were caught in a lie. Heck, she'd just punched the "prince" of Amakusaii which was just as bad as kicking a mama bear's cub. Eventually, a herd of "mama bears" would come knocking at the door for her crime.

"Why oh why did I let you go out today? I knew something would happen!" Kero cried. The tiny bodyguard was in hysterics.

"Kero."

"I shouldn't have! I shouldn't have! I had been hoping before that they would forget all about Tomoyo, but now it's worse!" Kero was banging his head with his little fists.

"Kero…"

"I'm such a baka! A baka bodyguard!" he ranted. "I should've gone with you! No… I shouldn't have let you go in the first place!"

"Kero, shut up!" Tomoyo snapped, surprising the others. "Power off."

Kero looked shocked. She'd never turn him off before. Hesitantly, he did.

"Yes, Mistress." His small figure slumped against the couch.

Sadly, she turned to Sakura, a grave look on her face. "You do know that they'll do anything to get back at you now, Sakura."

"I do," the girl replied.

"What made you do that, Sakura? I told you not to do something idiotic like that."

"You did, Tomoyo. But I could care less. That guy is a jackass and he needed to be told." The girl sighed. "Anyway. Keep your promise and tell me what happened."

"Fine." Tomoyo gritted her teeth. "It all started a couple weeks ago when I was running down the stairs, heading to my music class. I was running late to class. I slipped on a stair by accident and fell down the stairs to the bottom. I barreled right into someone at the bottom. Li. He was so pissed; it was scary. I'd heard stories of him before. I was downright frightened."

"What happened?" Sakura felt compelled to ask, even though she knew the answer.

"He began to yell at me. I told him I was sorry. He slapped me." Tomoyo was trembling. "I was pissed. I told him I had already said sorry and that it would be enough. I called him a jackass for slapping me. Then when I stopped by my locker for my next class, I found a red tag hanging in there. Then my roommate Michiru, who had a locker a couple lockers away came to visit to me. We had been on good terms then, but when she saw the tag she freaked out and started to announce to everybody that I had been tagged. Ever since… people have been treating me like the plague, taking every chance to make my life miserable, to make me leave. I've been egged, hit with balls in P.E., had my desk stolen…" Tomoyo coughed a little, her voice throaty. She was trying very hard not to cry. "In other words, this place is an absolute hell. And I-I'm just lucky that D3 hasn't done anything serious yet."

'Tomoyo…'

Just when Sakura thought her friend would cry, Tomoyo stood up, wiping a tear that had escaped her eye. "Where's your ticket, Sakura?"

"My train ticket?" Sakura questioned.

Tomoyo nodded.

"Why?"

"You're going to leave as soon as possible."

"No!" She shouted. "If I'm going to go, you're going to come with me! I'm not going to leave you and Kero here to get bullied by these assholes!" Then in a soft voice, "What happened to the old Tomoyo? The one who used to tell me to stand up for what's right?"

"I am still the same! But this is different, these guys can't be shaken!"

"No…" Sakura said, shaking her head. "I remember when we were in grade school, when I used to be bullied. My big brother Touya was in junior high and couldn't protect me anymore. But that's when I met you." She paused, trying to remember more clearly. "A third grader was picking on me because I had his swing. He threw me off the swing. Then you came over and told him off, saying that I had the swing first and he had no right to do that. He didn't get off the swing and said that he claimed the swing first and that I was stupid for not knowing that. Then…" She laughed slightly at the memory. "You punched him in the face, and he cried and got off the swing."

"But this is different, Sakura. These guys are bigger and they have the whole school behind them. We can't just punch them. We're just little fish in an ocean of sharks!"

Sakura looked like she was going to argue, but didn't. She sighed. "I guess you're right. Less than two days, and I get you into trouble. Sorry." Hesitantly, she stood up as well. "I guess… I'll go pack and get ready to go to the station now."

---

At Li's dorm...

"Now that wasn't that bad, was it, Li?" Takashi questioned his friend later, almost laughing at the image of him. He looked really beat up. A small tuft of cotton was sticking out of one nostril making his nose about the size of a tomato. The right side of his face, right next to the ridge of his nose and below his eye was swollen and was beginning to color a deep bluish black.

"Shut the hell up," Syaoran responded. He looked down at the red tag in his hand. The emblem of a golden dragon- their logo- was in the middle of it. In Romaji, the words D3- Dragon Three were threaded below it.

Eriol laughed. "I still can't believe you got knocked out by a little girl."

Syaoran glowered at him silently as he put a piece of tape on the top of the tag.

"I mean, whenever your sisters beat the crap out of you, you never faint. And whenever you get in fights at the clubs, you get beat up worse than this, but you don't faint," Eriol said.

There's that glare again.

"Hm... Perhaps you fainted because you have been hit by Cupid's arrow of love?" Takashi suggested. "In the ancient days of Rome and Greece, people believed when one became weak in the knees of the sight of another, it meant Cupid's arrow hit them. When one fainted at the sight of another, it meant that you have met your true love." Takashi sighed dreamily to add an effect.

Syaoran and Eriol stared at him as if he'd grown an additional two heads.

"Ha. Yeah right. Maybe I fainted because a certain retard dragged us out of our beds to go to the store when I haven't eaten," Syaoran shrugged in exasperation. "Anyway, good joke. Ha ha. I've known that girl for less than five minutes and already I'm about as attracted to her as I am to rabid guerilla in a drag," Eriol was about to reply to that, but Syaoran cut him off, "And before you ask, I am NOT attracted to guerillas in drags."

"I never said that," Eriol said, showing false hurt on his face.

"Whatever." That didn't fool Syaoran. He picked up the tag and smirked. "Well, I think we've given those girls enough time to prepare."

"Tagging is beginning to become childish to me," said Takashi with a yawn. "She's just a girl after all."

"A girl who punched me."

"Yes, and only you."

"But she called us bastards! She needs to be put in her place."

Eriol raised an eyebrow. "So? We've been called worse, Li. Get used to it."

"Don't you get it, Eriol? This is our pride! Our power. It's our job to set the rules for this place." Syaoran slipped into his jacket. "If one person gets out of line, others will get out of line too. That is why we must tag anyone who disobeys. Even a wimpy little girl."

Eriol and Takashi both rolled their eyes. At the same time, the thought "He is so obsessive over tagging people" went through their heads.

---

"Please, Tomoyo! I won't go without you!" Sakura pleaded as Tomoyo tried to shove her on the train. She had begun to have second thoughts on leaving her friend behind before they arrived at the station.

"Miss, the train is ready to leave. Please board," said the ticket man, who looked somewhat annoyed.

"Sakura, I've already told you have to go alone," Tomoyo responded, giving it all her strength to push her friend inside. She succeeded. The train doors shut. She waved slightly as her friend banged on the window with her fists.

'Don't worry, Sakura,' Tomoyo thought silently as the train began to leave. 'I have Kero to watch over me. And I have you to thank for reminding me to be strong again.'

---

"What? That girl already left?" Syaoran questioned Tomoyo. Kero, who had transformed into his guardian size, was between them ready to toss the boy around if he tried anything.

"Yes, my friend left." Tomoyo replied, unsurprised that Li had came to her to find Sakura. She was quite amused that Sakura had punched the boy so hard he had a bruise the size of a tomato on his nose and cheek. When she had asked whom the tag was for, she was surprised that it was for Sakura only.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

"I can't tell," Tomoyo said shaking her head. "But she is miles away from here."

"What is that girl's name?"

Tomoyo shook her head again. "Sorry, I can't tell you that either."

"Bitch," Li hissed as he moved forward. Kero growled menacingly, rounding up towards him. Li stopped in his tracks, glaring at the huge cat. Kero flashed his teeth.

"You won't call my Mistress such a profane word."

"Whatever, you big stupid… whatever you are," Li replied. He took a red slip of paper out of his coat pocket and flung it at Tomoyo. "This is for you, bitch. Have a nice day."

With that, he turned sharply and left to look for his friends; plans were already forming in his head.

Tomoyo looked down at the paper. Another red tag. She looked around the street to see if anyone saw the exchange, but she saw no one. She crumpled it.

---

The end.

Okie dokie. Sorry for the late update, but I was gone for Christmas and all that. Guess what? I got a graphire tablet! I'm so happy! The only problem is my brother has discovered a new manga, and he's always on the computer these days. I drew a pic and pretty soon I'll put it up for you guys to see. Also, sorry to those who wanted to see a more humorous reaction on Sakura's part. But I hope Syaoran's reaction made up for it. That would hurt (i.e. The Cotton Ball of DooOom). I know how it feels (being the unlucky person that I am. Got hit in the face with a soccer ball.).

Next chapter- Something arrives in the mail. Father is clueless. Big brother is pissed. Sakura is unfortunate.

A little note. I was having a little trouble deciding whether Sakura should go home this early or not (and let Syaoran have his revenge), but in the end I decided this would be the better choice. Which means… I'm gonna have to do a little more tweaking to my summary. I hope you didn't find this chapter too boring because well… I didn't find it all that exciting.

Anyways…

REVIEW!


	4. The LETTER of Doom

Finally an update! Sorry for the crappy update last time. I was kind of short on time, so I'll go back and polish that one up. And as I said in my profile, I had final exams all last week. It's surprising my brain isn't fried or something.

_Just a little note_: There's an excerpt from a future fanfic I'm writing down at the end. It's in Sakura's POV. Tell me if you like it or not.

Thanks to reviewers:

_Cherubim101_- Thank you too! Here's an update!

_BlueMeteorGirl_- Well, Eriol doesn't really know Tomoyo. He just sees her as just another girl that pissed off Syaoran. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_Calliecookie1991_- Thanks for reviewing. Sorry the last update was so crappy. I should've looked over it, but… as I said I was short on time and impatient to get it online.

_Someone_- (whistles) Wow, you are violent! Lol! Thanks for reading!

_Mysteriousmayhemmaker_- Thank you! I like your name!

_TeDDiez_- Well… I'm glad you could imagine it! Thank you!

_Anime Flower_- None taken! He really is a git isn't he? Well, hopefully he won't stay that way. You have a nice weekend too!

_Kimmygoldenangel_- Glad you think so! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: This is a complete waste of time, space, kilobytes, and thought. I don't own it already!

**Tagged by a Dragon**

_Chapter 4- The LETTER of Doom_

By Ivolynn

It had been three days since she gotten back from Amakusaii, but she still felt the same kind of anxiety she had felt when she punched Li. And the guilt. She felt so guilty for leaving her friend there to fend for herself… Kero was there though, but she didn't have faith that the tiny guardian could defend anything. It worried her so much that she hadn't much sleep in the last couple of days.

'I shouldn't have come back. Who knows what those bullies have done to her! They might've put her in that fountain too!' Sakura thought as she and Naoko walked home from school.

Naoko was talking about the latest movies and other things, but Sakura was too preoccupied with her thoughts.

'What should I do? She told me not to tell anyone about this!' Sakura thought back to when Tomoyo was bringing her to the station.

"_Don't tell anyone about this, Sakura," Tomoyo said fiercely as they trudged onward to the train station._

_Sakura was shocked and even gasped. "But Tomoyo, someone needs to know. At least your mother…"_

"_Not even Mom."_

"_But why? She needs to know! Besides, I think she knew something about this place if she sent Kero—"_

"_No she doesn't! If she knew what goes on here, she would have a heart attack!"_

_It was the truth; Tomoyo's mother had a weak heart despite her young age. A couple years ago, Daidouji-san had a severe stroke. She recovered with the help of the top doctors in the country, but half her face was paralyzed. Her left eye would never close all the way, she could barely hear anything with her left ear, and when she spoke the left side of her mouth would be half open while the other side would open all the way. It was no wonder why Tomoyo didn't want to tell her mother, but Sakura still thought that the news wouldn't be as severe as her friend thought it would be. Heck, the woman ran a toy company with stores in just about every city in Japan, China, and Korea. Talk about stress._

"_Why would she send Kero here, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked._

"_She sent Kero here… because she thinks I'm lonely." Tomoyo sighed. "It is the truth, but I'd rather be lonely than be tagged."_

"_But that's why you need to tell her! If she knew, then she would get you out of here!"_

_Tomoyo simply shook her head. "If she knew, it wouldn't be good."_

_They had reached the train station, seeing no one but the train and its attendant waiting to plow on out of there._

"_I won't tell her. My decision is final. I'll stick to this until the end." Sakura felt worried when she heard her friend utter the next words. "Only one year and a half left."_

'I should've forced her to let me stay,' Sakura thought. 'At least then the D3 would turn their full attention to me.'

She felt a poke to her side. She almost leapt out of her skin until she realized it was just Naoko.

"Hey, I asked you how Tomoyo's doing?" Naoko poked her again. "You haven't been listening to me at all!"

Sakura looked sheepishly at her friend. "Sorry, Naoko… I was sort of wrapped up in my thoughts there."

The girl grinned. "Hey no problem." Naoko was a tall lanky girl with shoulder length black hair and gleaming brown eyes under glasses. She was good-natured and liked to tell ghost stories probably to spook Sakura as she suspected. She too had been friends with Tomoyo.

"So… How is Tomoyo, Sakura? How was your visit?"

Sakura hesitated. Should she tell Naoko? There wasn't a problem except the fact that it would probably worry her too. Probably to the point of Naoko getting on a train and looking for Tomoyo. She was quite defensive over friends.

Probably not a good idea to tell her.

"Ah… it was good." She lied. "Tomoyo's fine. She's doing well in school. Even though I never went into the school, it was so big! All the dorms were little cottages and get this—there was a Starbucks!" Sakura silently congratulated herself. Normally she wouldn't think up such a convincing lie. Well, a partly true lie.

"Really?" Naoko had bought it. "That's so cool! I wish it were like that at our school."

"Yup." Sakura was smiling, but inwardly she made a retching sound. She hoped to dear God that nothing like that would ever happen.

They reached the fork in the road where they split ways. Naoko waved at her and headed home.

Sakura waved back. 'Sorry I had to lie, Naoko…'

* * *

When Sakura said she wasn't rich, she wasn't kidding. She lived in a two room apartment. It was okay... if you liked having to regularly fix the broken pipes and mop up the leaks from the ceiling. It was so bad that the tatami was beginning to bloat.

When Sakura entered the apartment, she inhaled the homely air. Home sweet home. Nothing like the smell of nasty mildew and… homemade oden?

"I'm home," she announced, kicking off her shoes and putting on a pair of slippers.

She walked over to a small table with a picture of her mother and picked it up.

"Hello, Mother."

Her mom had died when she was six. She had been a nurse. When she died, that was when all their money troubles began…

Her father came from the small kitchen dressed in an apron, a spoon in his hand.

"Welcome back," he said cheerily. "How was your day?"

"It was okay," Sakura replied with a smile. She set her backpack on the table and walked into the kitchen. She approached the big boiling pot of oden and grinned. "Yay, oden!"

Fujitaka smiled. "You came home just in time. I was afraid Touya would scarf it all down before you came back."

Sakura was surprised. "Touya's home?"

Her father nodded sadly. "He got laid off from his job at WackyWorld."

Sakura bowed her head. Poor Touya… He was working so hard too…

"He's going to go look for more jobs tomorrow though," Fujitaka continued. "I hope he finds another one soon."

Sakura smiled encouragingly at her father. "Don't worry, Dad. I know he will." She turned her attention to the pot of oden. "Now how about that oden?"

He fixed her a steaming bowl of it and set it on the table before her. "Dig in," he said, amused.

She was about to lift a daikon piece to her mouth when she found the food plucked from her chopsticks. She heard chomping behind her.

"Touya!"

Her older brother licked his fingers. "Delicious. It's good, Dad."

"Touya!"

He looked down at her. "What, kaijuu?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and let out a growl of frustration. "Don't act like you don't know! You owe me a daikon pickle!"

Touya gave her a teasing smirk. "What? Do you want me to throw it up for you so you can have chewed up food? Like a little birdy? Or more like a little monster?"

Sakura made an infuriated sound and tried to stomp on his foot, but he stepped back.

"Stop teasing your sister, Touya," their father reprimanded him warily as he fixed a bowl for Touya.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at Touya.

Without turning, Fujitaka said, "No sticking out your tongue at your brother."

Sakura pouted but complied and settled down to eat her food.

"You got mail today, Sakura," Fujitaka said after he set down a bowl for Touya and himself.

Sakura was curious. "Mail? For me?"

"Wow. I didn't think it was possible," Touya quipped sarcastically, stuffing food in his mouth.

Sakura glared him, but turned to her father instead. "What was in it, Dad?"

Fujitaka shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't open it."

"Where is it?"

"On the breadbox."

Sakura found it and tore up the seal without bothering to check who had sent it.

She read:

"Dear Sakura Kinomoto,

You have been selected for a semester of educational experience at the Amakusaii Academy for Higher Learning. Congratulations. All expenses are paid for, including room and board, meals, and books. Your ticket and application form are enclosed. We hope to see you on the 6th of January. If you decide not to accept this offer, please call this number- 1-800-993-5604.

Sincerely,

Hisato Yashimato 

Principal Hisato Yashimato, Ph.D."

"So… Are you going?" Touya asked. Sakura's mind snapped up and she looked from her father's face to her brother's. Both looked very interested. Her mind had undergone shock when her eyes went over "Amakusaii".

'WHY!' Was this that Li's revenge! Why was she suddenly getting a freebie to go there! Why!

"Yes, what Touya says, are you going to go?"

'No!' one part of Sakura's stubborn mind said, 'Do you really want to go back to that place?'

"No…" Sakura said slowly. Her brother looked like he was ready to blow while her father's eyes were downcast.

Touya slammed his fists onto the table, startling the others. "Are you insane! They're giving you a free semester of school! What kind of idiot are you!"

"You don't understand…" Sakura said, quite nervously. It was scary when her brother blew up like this.

"What is there to understand, Sakura? You're getting an offer to have half a year of high school paid at one of the top schools in all of the country! And you're not accepting it!"

Fujitaka gave his son a reproachful glower. "Calm down, Touya. You don't want the landlord coming down here and evicting us as well, do you?" Touya shut up instantly. Fujitaka turned to his daughter.

"Sakura… What reason is there for you not going to that school? Wasn't that the school that your friend Tomoyo is going? The one you visited last weekend?"

Sakura's eyes lit up. 'That's right. Tomoyo! What a fool I am if I pass up this opportunity. If I go, I'll be able to protect her while I'm there!'

"Um… No reason." Both father and son stared at her incredulously. "Stop looking at me like that! …Yes, Tomoyo goes there."

"So what is your decision?"

Sakura put a finger to her chin. "Hm… I guess I'll go."

Touya looked bewildered. "What!" He threw up his hands. "I'll never be able to understand indecisive people like you."

"Touya, women are mysterious creatures. It's probably just teenage hormones."

Sakura stood up abruptly, her face flaming. "Do you have to talk about that!" She ran off to her room, partly because she was embarrassed, but mostly to reread that letter and make sure no strings were attached.

"Great going, Dad," Touya said sarcastically. "Sakura's so sensitive on that topic, you know."

"Why thank you, son. Please go clean up the dishes."

Touya groaned.

* * *

"Oh my god! You're going there!" Naoko shrieked at Sakura, catching the attention of just about everyone in the clothing store.

Their friend, Ayume Tao, grabbed the hysterical girl by the shoulders. "Calm down, Naoko! You're scaring her!" The Chinese girl turned to Sakura, who wasn't really scared at all. "You're really going there? To that school?"

Sakura nodded, a look of indifference on her face.

"But I thought you didn't like the kind that go there…" Nod. "Didn't you go there to see Tomoyo last week?"

Nod.

"C'mon, say something!"

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to go there, but I want to go there. Does that make any sense to you?"

Her two friends shook their heads, confused.

No they wouldn't. They had no idea what was going on.

"But I thought you like it there, Sakura," Naoko said. "I mean, you'd be crazy to pass up an opportunity like this- I mean, they got a Starbucks for crying outoud! And in your family's condition, too. I mean, if you were thinking about--"

She was interrupted by a thwack on the head from Ayume.

"Don't say stuff like that!" Ayume hissed.

Naoko was about to apologize, but Sakura started up quickly. "It's okay."

Naoko nodded uncertainly, "Well… as I was saying before I got interrupted," she aimed a glare at Ayume, "Were you thinking about your new job? You know the one you got before you left?"

"A job?" Sakura questioned, trying to remember when she had ever gotten a job. Then it clicked in her mind. "Oh yeah, that job at the bakery…"

A week before she had visited Tomoyo, she'd applied and gotten a job at her favorite bakery, which was owned by Ayume's uncle. She had told her boss that she wouldn't be able to work until she got back. It was supposed to help her father pay for the bills and other necessities. And now that Touya had lost his job…

"Dang it," she said.

"If you want, Sakura," Ayume started, "I could tell him you can't work."

Sakura agreed sadly. She'd really wanted to work. She needed that job.

"But maybe when you get back, I can help you get it again, okay?" Ayume said. Sakura still looked depressed. "Hey, if you go to that school, then your bills will be cheaper. I mean it's free, right?"

Sakura nodded again.

"Don't worry," Naoko said, slinging an arm around her shoulders, "If it gets bad, we will help you."

* * *

It was the day. Sakura had packed just about everything she had. Now she, her family, and her friends were standing at the train station.

Her stomach felt queasy and her mouth felt like dry paste.

A tone sounded, and a train slid to a halt in the station. It was the same train that brought her into doom.

"Well, there's your train, honey," her father said, giving her kiss on the forehead. "Be good and don't get mixed up with boys."

"Okay, Dad," she said, giving him a hug. 'You have no idea how hard I will try.'

Touya gave her a noogie on the head and a hug. "I'll admit it, I'll miss you, kaijuu."

She stomped on his toe and hugged him.

Naoko and Ayume hugged her too. "Hey, you better tell us all about it when you get back. And get us some little souvenirs too."

When the tone sounded again, she grabbed her luggage and got into the train.

"We'll see you on spring break!" she heard them call before the doors closed.

She waved at them through the window and then went to the private compartment she had sat in the first time.

"_I just wanna go home,"_ crooned the male singer on the compartment's radio.

She let out a sigh and stared out the window.

_"I just wanna go home…"_

* * *

Sakura stared at the principal of Amakusaii High. The middle-aged man who had brought her back to her doom was reading her transcript.

"Quite the scholar, eh?" the man commented. "That's good. We need more students like you, Kinomoto-san."

Sakura thanked him, glad that her grades pleased him. Her weakest grade was in math, but she worked extra hard in her last semester and pulled off a low 'A'.

"I'm glad you decided to join us," he continued. "I hope to see that you continue with these kind of grades during the time you're with us."

"Me too," she mumbled.

"You are here because of the government's goal to bring quality students who live in poor conditions to quality schools. You stood out as the best, Sakura, though we wish to bring other students here too."

Sakura nodded, her eyes darting to the window. She could see students on their free time, were walking around the small community of their school grounds. When she had arrived, she hadn't seen Tomoyo or the D3.

The principal smiled. "Eager to start school, Kinomoto-san?"

She pasted on a fake smile and nodded vigorously.

"Well, you're excused from classes today to accommodate your dorm," he handed her a sticky note. "Give this to my secretary, and she will give you a push in the right direction."

She nodded and stood up to leave.

"Wait, Kinomoto-san. A word of caution- you would do well to keep yourself in line," the man said cryptically.

She understood completely.

The D3.

* * *

An hour later, Sakura had her keys, a schedule, locker combination, lunch ticket, and a list of supplies. She was outside looking for her new home now.

No one was in the streets right now. She guessed that they were in class now, but still she would have to be cautious. The D3 could pop up at anytime to tag her.

She looked at the small piece of paper in her hand. Cottage D4.

She shook her head at the irony. She came upon the D cottage section. It was a rather nice spot. An icy lake was lapping at the shore right next to the houses.

"D4…" she said absentmindedly, searching for the right cottage. When she rounded the corner, she found it.

She unlocked the door, waiting to be awed, but was greatly surprised when she found that the house was already occupied.

Cans, bottles, and potato chip bags were scattered all over the place. The place had a nasty smell. She stepped into the place, dodging the mess until she came to the couch. A person with long platinum blond hair was stretched out on the sofa.

She was about to wake them, when she saw a picture of a girl clutched in the person's hands. She shook her head and nudged the person.

"Excuse me?" she said quietly. The person roused, un-groomed hair falling around their face. It was a… he?

'But I thought this place didn't allow boy-girl roommates,' she thought.

"Who are you?" he asked gruffly, his eyes bloodshot and black ringed.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Sakura said uncertainly. "Do you live here?"

"No, I just come in whenever I want."

Sakura had no idea whether he was being serious or not. He had a very monotonous voice.

"Who are you?" he repeated.

"Sakura Kinomoto," she bowed, but he did not return it. "I guess I'm gonna be your roommate, huh?"

He didn't answer. She felt slightly uncomfortable under the glare he was giving her.

"W-well," she started, "I guess I'll go get my luggage then." She stepped over the mess on the floor, picked up her suitcases, and stopped in front of him. "Which one's my room?"

He grunted, and then let his head fall back onto the sofa.

"Really? Well thanks," she said, hobbling over the trash. 'For nothing. It wouldn't kill you to actually clean this place.'

* * *

The end.

Sorry… No obsessive tagging Syaoran in this chapter… But next one is a definite… Mwahaha….

All I can say is poor Sakura.

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. It was to give you kind of an idea of Sakura's normal life and why she was suddenly so unwilling to leave at the end of the last chapter. Next one, I swear I will get back to torturing her.

Before I forget, I'm thinking about writing another story. Here's an exerpt from it:

(Sakura's POV)

I gazed at my surroundings once more. So I was in a different dimension? I thought of home and immediately became homesick. What happened to Kero? I bet my family was worried sick over me.

I pinched myself just see whether this was all just a crazy dream as a result of watching too much sci fi or real. I winced. I pinched too hard. I guess it was real after all.

My gaze fell on the dimensional hopper resting on my captor's chest. I debated on whether waiting until he was in a deep sleep to snatch it or just go grab the dang thing and try to figure out how to go back home.

I decided on winging it.

I crept up to him and reached towards the dimension doohickey when I felt my wrist being crushed by a big hand. I saw two annoyed eyes.

"You know that ain't smart, girl." He was glaring. "Especially when you have no idea how to use this thing." He shoved the object into his pocket. "You could accidentally send yourself to a dimension where creatures eat delicate little girls like you. I mean, they consider sacrifices like yourself to be a delicacy."

No... Being eaten didn't sound like a good idea...

Wait a minute.

"Sacrifices?"

"Aw dang." He bopped himself lightly on the head, "I wasn't supposed to let that slip."

---

Well... I've got nothing more to say, but...

Tell me whether I should flesh out a plot for this baby.

And… REVIEW!


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